


Triage

by ashinae, cruisedirector



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Aristocracy, Arranged Marriage, Community: contrelamontre, Community: slither_in, Fucking, Infidelity, M/M, Marriage, Threats, Walking In On Someone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-09-05
Updated: 2003-09-05
Packaged: 2017-10-04 07:15:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashinae/pseuds/ashinae, https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruisedirector/pseuds/cruisedirector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Narcissa Malfoy opens a door at the worst possible moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Triage

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the contrelamontre "If you tell anyone, I'll kill you" challenge. That quote had Lucius Malfoy written all over it. We consider this story canonical for the universe of "Initiations" and "Tea and Chocolate."

As he came, Severus Snape was vaguely conscious of a door swinging open and a draft of cool air falling across his exposed chest. But his eyes were filled with Lucius Malfoy, and he was in no position to wonder about the change until his body stopped shuddering and his lover jolted upright with a hiss.

Lucius fell very still, then, his hands still braced on either side of Severus' head. He stared down for a moment before slowly turning his head to look over his shoulder, expressionless.

"I should have known," said a voice like ice. Though Severus could not see Narcissa Malfoy's face, he would have recognized that tone in the dark. "So this is why you haven't shared my bed all these months."

Lucius didn't seem particularly worried as he took his time moving away from Severus, getting to his feet and picking up a discarded robe. "If you should have known," he said, "you shouldn't look so surprised."

Severus struggled to sit up, his head still pounding from the intensity of his climax. He could not reach his clothes, so he bent his legs and pulled a decorative pillow over his body to hide his waning erection, trying not to stain it with the fluid that coated his skin. He also tried not to stare at the tableau before him: the beautiful, furious Narcissa, and the equally beautiful, preternaturally calm Lucius, staring at one another.

"We are supposed to be furthering a _dynasty_," she hissed. "I have never fooled myself that you married me for love, rather than to merge our two families. But where is our brood of little Malfoys?" A deep breath steadied her rising voice. "What do you have to show for your life, besides what you've inherited from your father and..." She gestured contemptuously in Severus' direction, refusing to look at him. "This."

Lucius secured his robe rather haphazardly, as though he was not expecting to be wearing it for very long -- more to ward of the chill than out of any notion of privacy. "Is this supposed to upset me?" he asked, sounding vaguely amused. "I'll give you a child when I'm ready to. Until then, I need my distractions."

"You..." Narcissa halted with her lips puckered. Severus could see that she was on the verge of calling her husband a name that might have sent him into a rage; on the other hand, Lucius might have considered it weakness on her part to utter such a thing. Her throat worked as though swallowing back her first several responses to his dismissive comment. "Is there any reason that I should wait for you to give me a child?" she demanded finally, clenching her fist until the knuckles turned white.

"We would appear to be bound to the arrangements of our marriage. It will be extraordinarily difficult to save face if either of us chooses to back out now, wouldn't it? And think of what your father would say." There was amusement in Lucius' voice.

"I wasn't speaking of backing out of our marriage!" Now Narcissa's eyes glittered, and her lips remained parted in triumph. Clearly she believed she had something to hold over him. Her eyes flickered over to Severus, aware of his gaze on her, and she tossed her elegantly coiffed head. "It is not necessary for the Malfoy heir to be fathered by a man who prefers to..." Lips curling in a half-smile, her eyes drifted to her husband once more. "...who prefers to expend his energies elsewhere."

"That would be a very foolish thing to do, Narcissa," said Lucius, still calm, but his amusement gone. Suddenly this wasn't quite a game. "The things they say about married women who find their way into the beds of other men? I doubt that this is worth that sort of price."

"And the things they say about the husbands of married women who find their way into the beds of other men?" She tossed her head again, posturing defiance. "Is this about me, Lucius, or about you? What would someone like Nott say, or my cousin Sirius?"

Lucius' jaw worked, clenches. "The opinions of your cousin Sirius mean very little to me." He moved towards her, and his voice dropped. "But I promise you one thing, my dear. If you tell anyone...I'll kill you."

"You'll _kill_ me!" The false, high tinkle of her laugh belied her sudden step back, hand grasping at the doorknob. "What will you do, Lucius, come into my bedroom and whisper an Unforgivable Curse while I sleep? Do you think you can _find_ my bedroom?" Abruptly her eyes turned on Severus. "What makes you think _he_ won't betray you?" she asked shrilly.

Still Lucius did not raise his voice, but he followed Narcissa forward. "Severus would not betray me. I know him too well." He paused a brief moment, then continued darkly, "This is _my_ house. Do you think you can hide from me? Do you think you would be safe if you talked about what happens within these walls? Do not presume to think you know what I would and would not do."

The woman's eyes had not moved, though Lucius was very close to her now, hovering over her. And Severus recognized his look; he knew that Lucius might not be bluffing. But Narcissa continued to study him on the bed through narrowed eyes, making Severus realize that he was in a very dangerous position...for Narcissa might not have been able to strike directly at Lucius, but there was little to stop her from striking at him.

Lucius gaze followed his wife's, fixing on Severus before one eye closed in a conspiratorial wink. "And...should anything happen to Severus?" Lucius paused again and smiled coldly. "I know whom I'd punish first. Now, why don't you go? Find something to keep yourself occupied."

Narcissa smiled as well, but she did not turn to meet her husband's gaze. "I wasn't planning to curse you, Severus," she said in the voice of a gracious hostess -- the same voice in which she greeted him at their parties, to which Severus was certain she hadn't wanted to invite someone from a family as unimportant as his own. "Are you comfortable? You must be cold. Can I get you something to wear, or something to eat?"

"You don't need to get him anything," Lucius snapped, his aggressive step forward betraying his impatience. "Why don't you go buy yourself something."

This, Severus knew, was a mistake. Lucius treated his wife as if money and status were her only concerns, yet she was ambitious and not unintelligent; had Lucius been so inclined, he could have had a true partner in her. Severus had always been urgently grateful that Lucius preferred him -- someone more disposable, perhaps, less essential to the long-term plans of the Malfoy family, and therefore more flexible, worked into his life in the invisible margins.

"Severus?" Narcissa asked again, ignoring Lucius. "Is there anything you would like?" And he knew that he could not disregard her; he had to speak.

"No," he shrugged, "I'm...quite all right."

Lucius glanced at him briefly, then turned back to Narcissa. "There. You see? He's perfectly content. Is there anything else?" The chill in his tone and fury in his eyes made Severus wonder if he should perhaps make a discreet exit as quickly as possible, for even with his wife gone, Lucius was likely to be in a terrible temper, perhaps even to blame Severus for her condemnations.

Still Narcissa did not turn to glance at her husband, nor acknowledge his comment in any way. "If you need anything, anything at all, please tell me," she told Severus, and this time her voice was warmer, her expression sincere. "Because I think we both know that Lucius is not always the most accommodating of men." Her eyes flashed over to Lucius, blazing contempt, and the loathing had not quite left the twist of her mouth when she smiled at Severus.

Severus had no idea what to say to this, nor how to react to it without directing Lucius' anger in his own direction. So he merely gave a little nod, which Lucius glanced at him again just in time to see. But he did not acknowledge it, at least outwardly.

"Goodnight, then, Severus," said Narcissa, smoothing her hands across the expensive fabric of the skirt she wore. Severus realized suddenly that she was dressed to go out, dressed beautifully, and perhaps she had come to the room to collect her husband for a social engagement he had forgotten. Swallowing as she turned her gaze away from him, Severus saw her eyes linger on Lucius for a long moment. When Narcissa was angry, her clear blue eyes turned beady and ferocious, like a hunting owl's.

Lucius studied his wife almost blankly for a moment before he all but pushed her backward through the doorway, closing the door behind her. He strode across the room with his jaw fixed, straightening the covers at the foot of the bed, pulling his robe more securely into place. "I hope that didn't upset you," he said to Severus, too smoothly; his face was a mask, revealing no hint of the rage with which he had faced Narcissa, but also no clue to his present state of mind.

"No more than having your wife walk in on us would normally upset me," replied Severus, slipping from the bed to retrieve his own clothing from where it lay scattered on the floor. Casually he added, "I'm surprised that you threatened her."

Lucius hesitated in his straightening of the room, fixing Severus with an unreadable expression. "You didn't honestly believe her offers of support to you, did you?"

Did he? Over the past few years, he had learned not to trust anything that was said in the Malfoy house. "Perhaps I should go," he suggested instead of answering Lucius' question.

"That is what she wants, you know," Lucius agreed easily, though he turned slightly, letting his hair fall like a curtain between himself and Severus while he dressed. "She will try to have you leave, one way or another. Is that what _you_ want?"

Merlin help him. "No," Severus admitted, "that's not what I want."

"Then what she does is irrelevant." Pushing his hair back, Lucius stepped toward him. He was not smiling, yet his quirking eyebrow and raised chin suggested genuine approval, and he reached out a hand.

Severus couldn't help feeling a bit like an awkward teenager when he accepted the offered clasp. "I suppose you're right." He guessed that it would be a poor idea to try to say anything more. Or, really, to try to think or analyze, because it did not really make sense that Lucius would choose to honor the wishes of Severus Snape over those of his wife.

"Are you with me?" Lucius asked in a quiet, conspiratorial tone. The question could have been intended as anything from a proposition to a demand for loyalty to a veiled threat to Narcissa. There was, however, only one possible response, and Severus found that he had no pride left to swallow as Lucius smiled slowly at him, accepting with a bowed head Severus' unblinking answer:

"Yes."


End file.
